AMD's Athlon 64 3400+ processor
It's crowded at the top?
SINCE AMD'S ATHLON 64 PROCESSORS debuted back in September, things have been fairly quiet on the CPU front. Now, AMD is stirring the pot again by introducing a new model of Athlon 64, the 3400+. Running at 2.2GHz, this CPU is very similar to the Athlon 64 FX-51, except that the 3400+ slides into a 754-pin socket and talks to only one channel of DDR400 memory. So the 3400+ doesn't break new ground in terms of clock frequencies, but its introduction does suggest AMD is comfortable in its ability to produce enough 2.2GHz Athlon 64 processors to bring this speed grade to its higher-volume desktop platform.
It's crowded at the top?
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We're interested to learn several things about the 3400+. Its performance rating, for instance, suggests it's faster than a theoretical Pentium 4 3.4GHz CPU. Can its performance back up that (implicit) claim? Also, how much difference is there between one memory channel and two? We've tested the Athlon 64 3400+ against its companions and competitors in an attempt to answer these questions, so read on.
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